Think your NFL team has the greatest fans? I hate to break it to you, but the criteria for determining which NFL team’s fanbase is the best is not based on how many of the opposing team’s fans you put in the ICU. Professor Michael Lewis at Emory University has come up with a method for evaluating fanbases of sports teams to determine which fans are the best and which are the worst *cough the Chiefs*. The model to which Lewis gauges how fanatical the fans is by using metrics such as home box office revenues and support on social media. The top teams have a good chance of featuring a franchise or fanbase that you loathe with the fire of a thousand suns.
For the second time in three years the Dallas Cowboys were crowned to have the top NFL fans. The New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and Pittsburgh Steelers round out the top five. The Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Rams, and Kansas City Chiefs are said to have the worst fans.
- Cowboys
- Patriots
- Eagles
- Giants
- Steelers
- Saints
- Bears
- Broncos
- Packers
- 49ers
- Colts
- Ravens
- Jets
- Dolphins
- Redskins
- Bills
- Panthers
- Seahawks
- Falcons
- Raiders
- Lions
- Texans
- Vikings
- Chargers
- Buccaneers
- Browns
- Cardinals
- Bengals
- Jaguars
- Titans
- Rams
- Chiefs
Before you blow a gasket and have a stroke that your team is not considered to have the fiercest fanbase, the professor offers some insight.
There are likely some objections to the list. Patriot fans are bandwagon fans! The Steelers are too low! The Eagles above the Packers or Bears?! Way too much to get into in a short blog post but a couple of comments.
First, Patriot fans may be bandwagon fans. But at this point it is tough to tell. The team has been excellent and the fans have been supportive for a long time. And even when things tend to go wrong for the Patriots they come out ahead. I believe that the deflate gate controversy had a significant positive impact on the Patriots’ social media following.
The Steelers are low in Fan Equity and higher on the other metrics. We can trace this to the Steelers pricing. The Steelers seem to price on the low side of what is possible.
The Eagle do surprise me. They do get a bump from playing in the NFC East interms of the Road Equity metric. The NFC East is a strong collection of brands that benefit each other. It is not easy to disentangle these effects. And perhaps we shouldn’t since we can make a case that the rivalries that benefit these teams are because of the interest in the individual brands.
You can read the entire study here.